Iraq's Capital Lives In Fear, Expects The Worst

WochitJun. 25, 2014. 05:30 AM EST

While the Iraqi capital of Baghdad is not under any immediate threat of falling to the Sunni mili...
More »

While the Iraqi capital of Baghdad is not under any immediate threat of falling to the Sunni militants who have captured a wide swath of the country's north and west, battlefield setbacks and the conflict's growing sectarian slant is turning this city of 7 million into an anxiety-filled place waiting for disaster to happen. Traffic is nowhere near its normal congestion. Many stores are shuttered and those that are open are doing little business in a city where streets empty hours before a 10 p.m. curfew kicks in. Arriving international and domestic flights are half empty, while outgoing flights to the relatively safe Kurdish cities of Irbil and Suleimaniya are booked solid through late July as those who can flee.
« Less